2 charged in Ferndale $14,000 scam at 7-Eleven

A Ferndale 7-Eleven employee and his brother have been charged with embezzling more than $14,000 from the store at Nine Mile and Pinecrest in a credit gift-card scam.

The former employee, Brandon Jackson, 26, was arraigned Wednesday in Ferndale 43rd District Court on a felony charge of embezzlement. His brother, Rashadd Jackson, 27, was also arraigned on the same charge before Magistrate J. Patrick Brennan. Each brother is jailed on $15,000 cash bond.

Ferndale police had been looking for the suspects since the embezzlement happened April 6, police said Wednesday.

The suspects were finally arrested at their mother's house in Detroit on Tuesday, said Ferndale Police Detective Brendan Moore.

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"The employee was working the midnight shift for about four hours" when the embezzlement happened, Moore said. "The brother would bring the Visa and other gift cards up to the register and the employee would load the cards with a cash value without depositing any money into the cash register and hand the card back to his brother."

The suspects ended up with a total cash value of $14,600 on 32 different gift cards, Moore said.

The owner of the store discovered the embezzlement several days later while checking the accounts, police said.

"People at the store then checked the surveillance video and they discovered the whole scam the suspects engaged in," Moore said.

Brandon Jackson had been working at the store for about a month when the embezzlement happened, police said.

He had worked at the store previously, left employment there, and had been rehired, Moore said.

Both suspects are Detroit residents. Police said they are unsure at this point of how the gift cards were used after the scam.

"There is really no way to track the cards and the suspects aren't talking," Moore said.

The suspects face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the charges against them.

They are scheduled for a pre-exam conference at 1 p.m. Monday in Ferndale District Court.